Machine for sealing envelops.



E. J. BRASSEUR.

MACHINE FOR SBALING ENVELOPS.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 12, 1910.

Patented Apr. 1I, 1911.

3 SHBETS*SHBBT1.

MMR. Aw

Ill W mima;

iNVENTOR ffw .ATTORNEY E. J. BRASSEUR. MACHINE FOR SEALING ENVBLOPS. APPLICATION FILED JAN.12, 1910.

Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY E. J. BRASSBUR.

MACHINE F011 SBALING ENvELoPs.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.12, 1910. l 989,229. Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

gaz-1.1"'-

INVENTOR ma* WITNESSES:

ATTORN EY `along its body-portion the proper distance.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST J..BRASSEUR OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR y'1.'0 A. B. DICK COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

v Specification of Letters Patent.`

Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

Original application led March 14, 1908, Serial No. 421,017. Divided and this application led January c 12, 1910.' Serial No. 537,646.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST J BRASSEUR, a subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Sealing Envelops, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for sealing envelops and is directed to the provision ofa machine of this type which is reliable in operation even though the thickness of the envelops varies considerably because of differences 4in the number of inclosures therein. This reliability of operation is cured primarily, by the provision of means for turning the flaps of the envelops bodily -or as a whole relatlvely to the body-portions thereof, so that the flaps will be. laid down flat upon the body-portions. To aid in effecting this, the envelops are moved along a predetermined path in the direction of their width. In machines of this character heretofore proposed, it has been common to move the envelops in the direction of their length and to employ a member for pressingthe flap against the vbody-portion so arranged that it first engages the flap at one end of the latter and thereafter moves along to the opposite end. lVith such machines, particularly when a number of inclosures are contained in the envelops, the flaps are frequently drawn down properly at one end but not at the other, 'a fold being made in the iiap and this folded portion extending beyond the bodyortion ofthe envelop.

One object o the present invention 1s to guard against this and this is donc by folding the flap as a whole so that at all points length itis drawn down upon the Other features of the invent1on will be described in detail hereinafter and definitely set forth in the claims appended hereto.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a central section of the machine, Fig. 2 is a view partly in sect1on and partly in elevation showing a portlon of the operating mechanism, Flgs.. 3 and 4 are enlarged detail views of portions of the operating mechanism hereinafter described, and

Fig. 5 is a, view partly in plan and partly in section.

4Referring to these drawings, the machine consists of a base 1, upon which are mounted side-frames 2 and 2'; practically all of the operating parts of the machine are located between these side-frames and are mounted thereon. The unsealed envelops are placed upon a tray 3 carried by an angle-piece 4 provided with an upwardly extending' arm 5 adapted to be moved vertically between guides 6 formed on the inner side of the side-frame 2. A screw 7 having a knurled head extends through an opening in the side-frame 2 and a slotl in the arm 5 to secure the tray 3 in any desired position of vertical adjustment. The unsealed envelops are moved forwardly over the tray 3 by a v pusher 8 which is actuated by a lazy tongs consisting of two pairs of crossed levers 9 and 10, the levers 10 being pivotally connected by a stud 11, which extends downwardly through a slot in tray 3 and has one end of a spring 12 connected thereto, the other end of the spring being secured to the piece 4. As will be readily understood, this spring acts on the levers 9 and 10 to draw them toward a position of parallelism, and

thus force the pusher 8 forwardly over the tray 3. In order to hold the pusher in inoperative position, as when placing unsealed envelops upon the tray 3, a stud 8 is fixed to the pusher and is ada ted to be received and held in a notch forme in a piece 12 extending upwardly from the tray 3 at the rear edge thereof. The pusher acts to press thev unsealed envelops against a plate 13 at the forward end of tray 3. Thisplate extends but a short distance above the lsurface oftray 3 except at one end thereof, where it is extended, as indicated at 14, to coact with one end of the forward envelop on tray 3 to support the latter in a vertical positlon. A second end-su porting plate is adapted to slide back and orth upon the stop-plate 13 to coact with, the opposite end of the forward envelop, the provision for adjustment of this plate permitting coaction thereof with the ends of envelops of different sizes.

Extending between the side-frames is a rod on which are mountedI two levers 16 ,having a flap-turning member 17 pivotally mounted -upon the .free ends thereof, this member being actedupon by a s ring 18` to press its free edge against the orward envelop on the tray 3. At one end, member 17 carries a roller 19 adapted to ride on the plate 13 and a cam 20 fixed thereto in order to give the desired movement to the upper edge of the flap-turning member 1 7 as the latter is reciprocated. One of the levers supporting the flap-turning member 1.7 is connected by a link 21 with a gear 22 mounted on a stub-shaft projecting inwardly from the side-frame 2, this gear meshing with a pin.- ion 23 mounted on a powersshaft 24. This shaft is driven in any suitable manner, as by means of an electric motor or crank. VGrear 22 also meshes with a pinion 26 loosely mounted on 'a shaft 27 journaled in beardownwardly extending fingers of this pusher :ings formed on the side-frames, and this l pinion meshes with a gear 28 loosely v mounted on a stub-shaft projecting inwardly :from the side-frame 2. Loosely suspended from this stub-shaft and from a similar stubrshaft projecting inwardly from the sideframe 2' by means of arms 29, is a frame 129' in which two forwarding-rollers 30 and 31 are journaled, the shaft of the roller carrying a pinion 30 which meshes with the gear28. Each of these rollers has a plurality' of circumferential grooves therein, and end- 30 ers, their outer faces beingflush ywith the faces of the rollers. Directly opposite the roller`30, is a forwarding-roller 32 mounted in bearings formed in the side-frames, the shaft of this roller carrying a pinion -32 whichmeshes with an idler-pinion 33, this pinion also meshing with the gear 28. Roller 32 is also provided with circumferential grooves, for a purpose hereinafter mentioned. The pinion 33 meshes with .a gear 34 secured upon a shaft 35 mounted for ro. tation in bearings formed in the side-frames 2 and 2', and-this shaft carries a cam 36 against which bears a roller 36' carried by links 37, 37', the link 37 being pivotally connected at one end to one of the arms 29 and the link T37 being pivotally mounted on a stud projecting inwardly from the sideframe 2. A spring '38 is :secured at one end to the frame 29' and at the other to the sideframe 2 sons to hold the roller 36 against the surface of cam 36. Y

An upper forwarding-roller 39 is mounted for rotation in arms 39' loosely mounted von the stub-shaft which carries the gear 28 and the similar stuhshaft on the other side of the machine, and the shaft of this roller carries a gear 40 meshin with the gear 28. The arms 39' carryingt is roller are connected by a bar 41, which is acted upon by a spring 41 secured on a rod extending between the side-frames to turn roller 39 about its pivotal axis and carry it into engagement with a second upper forwarding- 65 roller 42, which is mounted for rotation in less belts 31' run in the grooves of these rol-lstationary bearings supported on the `sideframes. The shaft of roller 42 also carries a gear 43 which meshes with a stationarily mounted idler-pinion 43' meshing with the gear 28.l The rollers 39 and 42 preferably consist of a plurality of roller sections, these sections being arranged opposite each other. When the envelops are forwarded upwardly between these two sectional rollers, they pass up in front of a pusher 44 carried by arms 45, which are loosely pivoted at their lower ends, one upon the stub-shaft carrying the gear 28 and the other upon the similar stubshaft on the other side of the machine. Pusher 44 consists of a bar having fingers Aextending upwardly and downwardly therefrom, as shown at 44', and the ends of the When the pusher is turned about its pivotal sup ort, it moves lthe envelop which is then in ont of it onto the receiving tray 45' for the sealed envelops. The edge of this tray is provided with a plurality of slots 93, into which the downwardly extending -arms of pusher 44 may pass. Adjacent tothe edge of tray 45' are a plurality of openings, in each of which is mounted a hinged member 46 (Fig. 5) acted upon by Spring 94 to hold it yieldingly lin a vertlcal position. These inges 46 lie opposite the spaces between the downwardly extending arms on the pusher 100 44. When pusher 44 moves an envelop onto tray 45', the lower edge of the envelop engages the hinged members 46 and turns those members on their pivots until they pass into the openings in tray 45'., and as the 105 I envelop passes beyond thev hinged members they spring up into the vertlcal position again, so that when the .pusher 44 1s with-l drawn the envelop will be held against'backward movement at its lower edge by the hinges 46. The upper edffe of the envelop will be held by yertically adjustable, inclined stop-fingers 47, which eXtend,'betWeen the upwardly ,extending fingers of the pusher 44. These fingers are carriedv by'a bar 48, which 115 is adapted to'slide vertically on posts 49. Each of these. posts has a rack 49" thereon engaged by teeth formed on a rod 51 mounted for rotation in bearings formed on the bar 48. A knurled thumb-nut 52 is secured 120 on the end of rod 51 for operating the latter. Mounted on tray 45 is a yieldin stop 53 adapted to slide over the surface o the tray and to hold the envelops in' an upright position, the envelops being held between this stop and the hinges 46 and fingers 47. This stop is actuated by a lazy Itongs similar to that above described in connection with .the pusher for .theunsealed envelops. A spring 54 acts on the levers of this lazy tongsy tb 130 draw them to a position of parallelism, and

45 with a yielding pressure. In order to hold the stop 53 in the rearward position, to

move together.

permit of more readily removing the sealed envelops, a latch is secured thereon and adapted to coact with the up-turned edge 55' of tray 45.

Mounted for rotation on a stationary stubshaft 56 projecting inwardly from the sideframe 2, 1s a gear 57, which meshes with the gear 34 on shaft 35. Shaft 56 also.carries a mutilated gear 58 fixed to gear 57 and adapted to mesh with a gear 59 loosely mounted on a stub-shaft pro]ecting inwardly from the side-frame 2. Secured to the mutilated gear 58 on shaft 56, is a stop-disk 59',

with which coperates a disk 60 secured toone face of the gear-59 and provided with a single tooth adapted to lock gear 59 against rotation except when the teeth of the mutilated gear 58 are coacting with those of gear 59. A link 61 (Fig. 2) is pivotally connected to gear 59 eccentrically, and at its other end is pivotally connected to one of the arms 45 carrying the pusher 44. This arm is also connected by a link 61 to the free end of a crank 62 (Fig. 1) secured to the shaft 27, and the other end of shaft 27 carries a similar crank 62 (Fig. 2), which is linked in a similar manner to the other arm 45 carrying a pusher 44, so that both ends of pusher 44 The 'envelops are forwarded, flap vforemost, vertically upward, between the lower forwarding-rollers 3'() and 32, and pass up along the face of a plate-63, which is pivotally mounted on arms 63 depending from an auxiliary frame 64. To this plate is pivotally connected oneend of a llnk 65, 1n the other end of which is a slot through which the shaft 35 passes, and a stud 65 on this link bears upon the periphery of a cam 66 fixed on shaft 35. The lower edge of plate 63 is providedlwith teeth which project into the circumferential grooves in the roller 32, as indicated in Fig. 1, andaspring 66,bears against a in on link 65, this spring acting on the lin to hold the stud 65 always in contact with the surface of cam 66. As the envelop moves upwardly in front of plate 63, the latter is moved by cam 66 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. r3 and guides the flap of the envelop between two rollers 67 and 68. The two positions of these rollers and of plate 63 are shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Roller 67 is provided with an absorbent surface and is mounted for rotation in bearings carried by a moistener-frame 67 mounted on a cross-bar 68. This moistener consists of a receptacle for water as shown in Fig. land a support for a wick 64 which feeds the water to the moistening.

roller 67. On thefend of the shaft of roller 67 is a pinion 69 (Fig. 2), which meshes with an idler-gear 69 mounted on 'a stubshaft extending inwardly from the sideframe 2 'and meshing witha gear 70 on the end of the shaft ofthe -lower forwardingl roller 32 opposite the end carrying the pinion 32. The roller 68 is journaled in arms 71, which are pivotally mounted upon the auxiliary frame 64, and one of these arms is pivotally connected to oneend of a link 72, the` other end of which is provided with a slot through which the shaft of gear 22 passes. On this shaft is mounted a cam 73 whichv coacts with a pin 73 on'link 72 to turn arms 71 about their pivots and thus position the roller 68. A spring 72 (Fi 3) bears on one of the arms 71 and ten s to turn it in the direction to hold stud 73 against the surface of cam 73. Roller 68 is not positively driven but is rotated when carried into coaction with a vroller 74 mounted parallel thereto in bearings carried by the side-frames. The shaft of this roller carries a gear 74 (Fig. 2) which meshes with an Vidler-gear 75 mounted on a stub-shaftpro jecting inwardly from the side-frame 2. This gear is ada ted to mesh intermittently with a mutilate gear 76,' and a stop-plate 76 is secured to one face of mutilated gear 76 and coacts with a disk 77 provided with a single tooth and secured to one face of gear 75 to hold the gear 75 against rotation except when the teeth thereof are engaged by the teeth of mutilated gear 76.

An adjustment is provided whereby the position of shaft 35 during the period of rest when the tooth on disk 7 is in coaction with stop-plate 76 may be regulated as desired. This is eected by arranging gear 76 andplate 76 in any suitable manner so .that they may be turned on shaft 35 as desired and then locked upon the shaft when the proper position has been determined. In the construction illustrated, the gear 76 and late 76 are loose on shaft 35 and at the sideof gear 76 is a disk 78 which is secured to shaft 35. On the other side of'disk 78 is an arm 79 projecting from a collar j which is loose on shaft 35. A bolt 80 asses through openings in the stop-plate 76 and the mutilated gear 76 and the slot 78 in disk 7 8, and the end of this bolt enters a threaded opening in the arm 79. In the side-frame 2 is an opening located in such a Iposition that a wrench -may be inserted through this opening to engage the head of bolt 80, and the opening for bolt 80 through gear 76 1s .so positioned that 4when the bolt 1s opposite this opening in the side-frame 2 the teeth of mutilated gear 76 are not in engagement with the teeth of gear 75. Shaft 35 passes through the bearinggtherefor in side-frame 2', and on its end carries a plate 81 provided with a plurality of scale markings as shown A 82 (Fig. l), on which are a plurality of arms l of envelops and coacting with a mark on the frame.

Loosely mounted on shaft 27 is a sleeve 83, which project inwardly of the machine and into the path of the envelope. At one -end sleeve 82 is provided with a crank 83 f (Fig. 2) and a spring 84 secured to the sideenvelops is placed upon the tray 3' as above described and pressed forwardly over the same by the pusher 8. The envelops are held against edgewise movement in one direction by the up-turned edge of tray '3, and in the other direction by a guide 88 (Fig. 1) depending from arod 88 extending between the sideyframes of the machine and secured in any position upon rod 88 by a set-screw 89. The foremost envelop of the pile is thus pressed against the plate 13 and one end of the envelop is supported by the extension 14, the other being'supported by'the platel corresponding toextension 14 and which is adjustable on plate 13 so that it coacts with the end of the envelop. The drive-'shaft 24 is then rotated ,by the means provided for that purpose and operates to reciprocate the flap-turning member 17 through lthe gear 22, link 21 and arms 16. The drive-shaft also operates by means of gears 22 and 26 to rotate the gear 28, and this gear drives the lower forwarding-rollers 30, 3l and 32 and the upper forwarding-rollers 39 and 42. Gear 28 valso drives shaft 35 through pinion 33 and gear 34. As member 17 moves vertically upward, its edge'catches under t-hef.v flap of the foremost envelop and then moves'f outwardly from the plates 14 and 15, due to the coaction of roller 19 with 'cam 20, so as to turn the apof the envelop relatively to the body portion thereof. As tle flap in its turning movement approaches the plane of theV body-portion of the envelop, the rollers 30 and 31 have been moved away from the roller 32 by the cam36 on shaft 35, and the iap is caught 'by the belts 31 which are then in motion and which with the member 17 serve to turn the' flap until it lies in the plane of the body portion of the envelop. Cam 36 then allows` rollers 30 and 31 to be drawn by spring 38 to the left in Fig. 1 until the flap of the envelop is caught between rollers 30 and 32 and the entire en` velop is forwarded vertically upward, fla foremost. At this time, the rotation of sha t 35.` causes cam 66 to turn the plate 63 about its pivotal axis to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3, and cam 73 on the shaft 4gummed portion of therflap of the envelop is thoroughly moistened. As soon as the end of the flap passes under roller 68, the latter is moved to thevposition in which it is shown in Fig. 1 by spring 72,.cam 73 permitting this movement, and roller 68 when in this position insures good contact of the gummed portion of the flap with the moistening-roller 67. As roller 68 moves thus,

plate 63 is movedback to its original position, as shown in Fig. l, by spring 66', such movement being permitted by cam 66, so that as the body portion of the envelop is fed upwardly by rollers 30, 32, it passes along the face of plate63 and between rollers 68 and 74, the natural tendency of the flap to turn relatively to the body portion of the envelop, together with the relative positions ofthe several rollers after roller 68 has been moved to the right, insuring the passageV of the body of the envelop between rollers 68 and 74, rather than between rollers 68 and 67 following the flap. lThe shape of cam 73 is such that-roller 68 remains in the positionin which it is shown in Fig. 1 but a short time and is immediately moved back to a position in whichthe envelop'is grasped between it and roller 74. lJust before the envelop is grasped between rollers 68 and74,

the upper edge of the envelop to arrest it momentarily in its passage through the machine and insureproper positioning of the envelop in the. machine with its upper and lower edgesy 'horizontally disposed. vThis movement vof fingers 83 is effected by spring 84 when-permitted bythe finger 85 as hereinafter explained. Roller 68 is not positively driven, so that it rotates only when it coacts through` an envelop with the roller 74.

Roller 74 is rotated by gear 74 on its'shaft, meshing with gear 75 and gear 75 is driven intermittently by the mutilated gear 76 on shaft 35, gear 7 'being lockedl against movement when its teeth are not engaged byv the teeth of the mutilated gear. Thus, roller 74, and with it roller 68, have an intermittent movement, this movement being such that at the propertime rollers 74 and 68 will be rotated to forward the.l envelop lying between them vertieally upward until its upper edge passes between the upper forwarding- -the ends of the lingers 83 come down upon escaso rollers 39 and 42. These upper forwardingrollers, rotated as above described, pass the envelop upward between them and 1n front of the envelop-pusher 44. Pusher 44. 1s moved forwardly from the position in which .it is shown in dotted lines to the position in which it is shown in full lilies in Fig. 1 as soon as the envelop is passed upwardly in front of it, this movement of the pusher being effected by a link 61 (Fig. 2) connected thereto and to gear 59 which is operated 1ntermittently to make oney revolution by the mutilated gear 58 mounted for rotation on stub-shaft 56 and driven byshaft 35 through the gears 34 and 57. In its backward position, the lower ends ofthe fingers on pusher 44. enters between the sections of the roller 42,

'solthat' the envelop' forwarded by the upper forwarding-rollers must pass in front of the pusher; and in its forward positlon the lower ends of these fingers enter bet-Ween the sections of the forwarding-roller 39 and into the wide notches 93 on the edge of the tray 45 for the sealed envelops.l The portions of the edge of-this tray between these notches also extend between the sections ofthe roller 39, so that the envelop moved forward by pusher 44 must pass onto the surface of the i tray 45. As it does so, it engages the hinges 46 and turns these down into the plane of tray 45 until it 4passes them. whereupon the hinges spring upward into the vertical position in lwhich they are shown. The hinges thus coact with the lower edge of the envelop when pusher 44 has been withdrawn, to prevent the envelop from being moved backward with the pusher and the upper edge of the envelop is similarly held by the` fingers 47. The position of these fingers is adjustable vertically, so that they will coperate properly with envelps of various sizes. This adjustment is e ected by turning the thumb-nut 52, thus actuating the teeth which coact with the rackson posts 49. -In adjusting "the fingers 47 thus, an adjustment is simultaneously effected of the range of 'movement of the stop-arms 83 due to the fact that the plate 86, depending from the 5to-support 48 for fingers 47, has a projecting finger at its lower end extending under the pin 84` on the crank 83 of the arms 83. It

' will be seen that as the pusher 44 is reciprocated in the manner,l above described, the

finger 85 thereon will permit pin 84 to be moved downwardly by spring 84 to bring the ends of the stop-arms 83 down upon the upper edge of an envelop passing through the machine. The lower end of plate 86, however, coacts with the pin 84 to preclude the pin from making the full movement which 'the fin er 85 on the pusher 44 would permit,

and t e point at which plate 86A arrests the movement of pin 84' is determined by the position. of the fingers 47 which in turn are positioned with respect to the size of the envelops being sealed. As soon as the foremost envelop on the unsealed-envelop tray is fed forward, the pusher 8 on that tray moves the entire pile forward, so that the.

next envelop is in position to have its flap caught by the flap-turning member 17. On the sealed-envelop tray, the envelops are pressed forward against the hinges 46 and fingers 47 by the stop 53, which yields and moves baekwardly over the tray as the stack of sealed envelops increases.

The construction of the envelop sealing devices herein shown possesses important advantageous features, particularly in that it though they vary in thickness considera With the plate 63 and roller 68 in the Fig. 3 positions when the envelop is moved upwardly flap-foremost, the flap will readily pass in between rollers 67 and 68. As it begins to do so, late 63 and roller 68 move to the Fig. 1 position. Then during the upward movement of the envelop caused by rollers 30 and 32, the body portion of the envelop moves straight up along plate 63 and the iap, being held between rollers 67 and 68, is turned relatively to the body-portion of the envelop. As soon as the upper edge of the body portion passes the line of coaction of rollersv 68 and 74, the former is returned to its Fig. 3 position, pressing the fla against the body portion between it and ro ler 74. The flap 1s thus turned bodily down upon the body portion and pressed smoothly against the same and the result will be the same whatever the thickness of the inclosures within the' envelo Also when the top of the flap is passin lbetween rollers 74 and 68, the Hap-will e curved about roller 68 somewhat so that its mrned can be relied on to properly seal the envelolps b y.l

surface will be held against' the molstening roller 67 and will be well moistened thereby.

The machineconstructed and operating as above described is adapted particularly for use in connection with means for automatically airixing stamps to the envelops. Portions of the stamp-alfixing mechanism are shown in the drawings; these are described in detail in Patent Number 945838 granted to me January 11, 1910, and no claim is made herein to these features of the complete machine. The sheets of stamps are fed edgewise to carry the strip at one edge thereof between two sets of rollers 90 and 91 whereupon this strip is severed fromthe sheet. As each envelop passes throu h the machine these rollers are automatica y actuated to feed this strip a distance equal to the length of one stamp, a; stamp is moistened bythe rollers 92,-one of which dips intowater contained 'in a suitable remova tray and a stamp is rolled upon the envelop being sealed in the machine by being.

. stamp-feeding and aliixing means is autoymatically controlled by the advancing envelops so that a stamp will be fed only when the envelop is being moved into position to receive it.

Having described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. The combination of lenvelop-forwarding means, a support for thesealed envelops, inclined stop-fingers mounted above one end of said support and projecting beyond said end, means; for forwarding the envelops upon said support and in front of said fingers, a wall movable over said support and a spring acting on said wall topress the envelops against said lingers, substantially as set fort l 2. The combination ofl envelop-forwarding means, a supportfor the sealed envelops, inclined stop-fingers mounted above one end of said support and projecting beyond said end, means for adjusting said lingers toward and away from said support, means for forwarding the envelops upon said support and in front of said fingers, a wall movable over said support, and a spring acting on said wall to press the envelops against said iingers, substantially as set forth. y

3'. The combination of a pair of sectional envelop forwarding rollers, an envelop pusher, an envelop-support and means for operating said pusher to carry 1t into c0- action with an envelop forwarded between said sectional rollers and to move said envelop upon said support, said pusher having parts thereon extending between the sections of one of Isaidrollers and the movement of thepusher carrying said parts'between the sections of the other roller, suby stantially as set forth.

4.. The combination of a pair of sectional envelop-forwarding rollers, an envelop pusher, an envelop-support having projections at one end thereof entering between the sections of one of said rollers, and .means for operating said pusher to carry 1tl into coaction with an envelop forwarded between `said sectional rollers and to move the envelop upon said support, said pusher having parts thereon extending vbetween the sections of .one of said rollers and the movement of the pusher carrying said partsbetween the sections of the other roller and the projections at 'the end of l'said support, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a pivotally mounted plate, means for forwarding envelops flap foremost adjacent to said plate, a Hapmo'istening device, a pair of envelop-forwarding rollers, and means for-moving one of said envelop-forwarding rollers bodlly and for simultaneously moving said plate about its pivot to two positions, in one of which it guides the Haps of lthe envelops into coaction with said moistening device and in the other of which it permitsthe body-portion of the envelops to pass between Hap foremost adjacent to said plate, a Hapmoistening device, an envelop-forwarding roller, means for moving said plate about its pivot to two positions in one of which it guides the iaps of the envelops into coaction with said moistening device and in the other of which it permits the body-portions of the envelops to pass adjacent vto said forwarding roller and an envelop-forwarding roller coacting with said roller and positioned to insure contact `of the envelop-flap with the moistening device when the lenvelop is being forwarded by said rollers, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of a pivotally mountcd plate, means for forwarding. envelops flap foremost adjacent to said plate,A a flapmoistening device, a pair of envelop-forv,warding rollers, and means for moving said plate about its pivot to twol positions, 1n one of which it guides the flaps of the envelops into coaction` with said moistening device and in the other of which it permits the body-portions of the envelops to pass between said forwarding-rollers, and means for moving one of said forwarding-rollers into position for -pressing the flaps-of the, envelops into engagement with said moistening device, substantially as set forth..

8. The combination of a pivotally mounted plate, means for forwarding envelops Hap foremost adjacent to said plate, a flapmoistening device, a pair of envelop-forwarding rollers, yone of which is movable, and means for rocking said plate to guide the flap of an envelop into vcoaction with said moistener, moving said movable forwardin'g roller to press said flap against the moistener, rocking said plate to permit the body portion of the envelop to pass between saidv forwarding rollers and moving said movable forwarding roller to grip the envelop between it and the other forwardingroller, substantially as set forth. f 9. The combination of a pair of envelopforwarding rollers, a pivoted plate, a iiapmoistener, means for moving one of said forwarding-rollersl bodily between said moistener and the other of said -forwarding-rollers, andl means fo'r rocking said plate to a position for guiding the iiap of an envelop between said moistener and the. adjacent `forwarding-roller and to a position ,for permitting the body portion of the envelop to pass `between said forwarding-rollers, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination of two rollers, means for rotating one of` said rollers, a moistener j that the flaps are inserted between said moismember adjacent to one of `said rollers, a

plate, means lfor forwarding' envelops lap- `moving said p ate into position for guiding adjacent to one of said rollers, and means for forwarding envelops flap-foremost so tener and the adjacent roller and the envelops passed between said rollers, substantially as set forth.

11. The combination of two rollers, means for moving one of said rollers toward and away from the other, a moistener adjacent to one of said rollers, and means for forwarding envelops flap-foremost so that the flaps are inserted between said moistener and the adjacent roller and the envelops passed between said rollers, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination of a (pair of rollers, means for rotating one of sai rollers, means for moving one of said rollers toward and away from the other, a moistener adjacent to said movable roller, and means for forwarding envelops flap-foremost so that the flaps are inserted between said moistener and the adjacent roller and the envelops `passed be-` tween said rollers, substantiallyV as set forth.

13. The combination of a pair ofrollers, a

foremost' alon said plate and, means for the flap of an envelop between said member t ing envelops flaporemost along said plate, Y

and means for moving said plate into position for guiding the flap of' an envelop between said moistener and the adjacent roller and into position for guiding an envelo between said rollers, substantially as set orth.

15. The combination of a roller, a flapretaining device, .a pivoted plate, means for forwarding envelops iiapforemost along said plate, and means for moving said plate into position for guiding the flap of an envelop into coaction with said retaining device and into position for guiding an envelop into coaction with said roller, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 8th day of January, 1910.I

ERNEST J. BRASSEUR. Witnesses:

R. R. HARRINGTON, M. H.I BURKART. 

